Fresh Summer Scents for 2023

Summer is upon us! Apart from indulging in a well-deserved break, this is also the time to try out new fragrances. In general, summer scents tend to be light, fresh, aquatic, citrusy and floral as these scent profiles are not too cloying. And when the mercury rises, the notes will interact with the skin chemistry differently than during the colder months. Popular notes such as citrus, floral, green and light woodies would usually take centre stage.

Diptyque Eau Nabati

Just in time for summer, Diptyque has released a new fragrance that is perfect for the warmer days ahead. Called Eau Nabati, which loosely translates to “plant water”, it “captures the essence of nature and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, lush in botanical scents”. Calling to mind an oasis in a desert environment, the scent opens with citrusy fresh bergamot and cooling green zest from petitgrain. Slowly, the bright and uplifting quality of Eau Nabati is delicately balanced with a rich aroma of amber and the sweet scent of Peruvian balsam. Overall, the scent’s lightness makes it easy to wear even on the hottest days.

Maison Margiela Replica “On a Date”

Transport yourself to the romantic ambience of a flawless date in Provence with ‘On A Date’ fragrance by Maison Margiela. This fragrance captures the sweet and thrilling emotions of a successful rendezvous with the aroma of sun-drenched ripe grapes and the delicate yet potent scent of wild roses. ‘On A Date’ is a blend of Damascena rose petal and bergamot essences, which create a seductive and sweet fragrance. Additionally, the blackcurrant liquor accord and patchouli essence give the fragrance a sensual and magnetic woody signature, evocative of the earthy aroma of the Provence vineyards at night. This olfactory masterpiece heightens your senses and brings back memories of a perfect date.

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Penhaligon’s Solaris

The Solaris fragrance by Penhaligon’s makes a great floral scent for the summer season. It fulfils its promise of providing a cheerful and sunny vibe. This fragrance has a creamy composition with a beautiful heart of golden-yellow ylang-ylang, complemented by citrus and fruity notes of black currant and lemon, as well as warm and spicy undertones. It is an excellent choice for those who appreciate sweet floral fragrances with moderate presence and long-lasting durability. If you’re searching for a perfect floral scent for any occasion, be sure to try Solaris by Penhaligon’s.

Gris Dior

“What if the Dior grey were a fragrance? This emphatic grey is not merely a mix of black and white, but the result of a chromatic blend. This profusion of colours inspired a composition that melds Jasmine and Bergamot with notes of humid undergrowth. Colour is transformed into an emblematic fragrance. Its lively scent is multifaceted and effortlessly elegant,” shares François Demachy. This scent is unisex despite being highly floral as the base notes which consist of woody elements like cedar, sandalwood and patchouli, along with amber, create a warm and sensual foundation. 

• READ MORE: The Evolution of Luxury Beauty

Aqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto di Calabria

Calabria, a city in southern Italy, is what this perfume was inspired by. And the central ingredient that it seeks to spotlight is bergamot. With a spritz, the uplifting and invigorating scent of the golden fruit makes a bright opening just like a summer day in the Mediterranean, along with its cousins like lemon, grapefruit and orange. As the zesty notes peel away, the fragrance then develops into a heart that combines floral nuances with hints of ginger and cedarwood, adding complexity and depth. Finally, the base notes provide a warm and sensual foundation with touches of vetiver and benzoin.

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Watt Wagons Takes E-Bikes to a New Frontier

It all started with wanting to solve a commuting problem that prompted Pushkar Phatak to develop his own e-bike and its design became a conversation topic when he rode it to work. Many people who saw his bike asked if he could also make one for them, and that was how Pushkar realised the potential of his e-bike. Together with his college friend Amit Sondhit, they went on to establish a company where selling these e-bikes became their newfound passion.

Ahead, Amit shares with us more about Watt Wagons, its bikes and how they set a new Guiness World Record.

You are based in Boston, US. Tell us about the amazing growth of Watt Wagons e-Bikes.

Like a lot of start-ups, we started out of a garage building bikes with our own hands. Over the course of three years, we are a well-established brand in the high-performance segment. We have moved to an 8,000 sqft establishment and hired employees to build and service electric bikes. We have also started a 5-star rated e-bike service company “ebike.rehab” to “heal” electric bikes, build relationships, upsell, and further the passion for riding. We have been profitable for two years now and are working on new technologies that will be game changers in the rider ecosystem. Starting from one product, we now have a portfolio of different bikes catering to all sorts of use cases. We are looking at multiplying last year’s sales!

How did the idea of producing luxury e-bikes come to Pushkar Phatak, the founder of the company?

Pushkar built his first e-bike to solve his commuting problem. He realised he was onto something when someone at a traffic stop asked him about his bike and whether he could build the same for them. Toying around with ideas, he easily saw that while there were so many products in the market, there were hardly any that qualified as reliable, serious or, in some cases, just plain functional. He went to the whiteboard and out came some highly successful works of pure engineering!

He founded Watt Wagons and got working on securing design and vendor relationships after getting great feedback from a lot of enthusiasts! He went for the holy grail to prove the reliability of Watt Wagons — a Guinness World Record! Of course, along with kudos, it resulted in many things to work on to expand Watt Wagons.

I have been Pushkar’s friend since undergrad, and had been working with him on a bunch of other things, including another company, when we decided to collaborate and take Watt Wagons to the next level. The company moved to a much bigger workshop from a garage and out came the new state-of-the-art products, new website and brand strategy, NHL player endorsements and media coverage.

Can you name a few of the early backers of Watt Wagons?

Watt Wagons is organically funded by us but we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge some of the early backers who put their faith in us and placed orders for some of the best e-bikes in the world. There were a lot of our loyal customers who believed in us from the beginning and ordered based on our advanced concepts. Their orders helped us build our foundation and helped in scaling up.

What are the key propositions of Watt Wagons e-bikes? How innovative and “intelligent” is the engineering behind these bikes?

We focus on defining the technology of the future. When we started, we were the first to introduce high powered titanium commuter e-bike with belt drive, the one that we used to set a new Guinness World Record. The next generation of our e-bikes boasts ultra-light carbon fibre frames with top-of-the-line components and full suspension capability. We even offer internal gear hubs to reduce maintenance. We modify the motors with our advanced controllers to make them more reliable, efficient and fun. Our latest product, the Hound, is the only adventure e-bike platform that offers onboard charging — you can use an EV charging station just like your electric car!

In the summer of 2019, Watt Wagons travelled to Halifax with rider Ravi Kempaiah to set a new Guinness world record. Can you tell us more there?

In the summer of 2019, Watt Wagons travelled to Halifax NS with rider Ravi Kempaiah to set a new Guinness world record on the Ultimate Commuter Pro e-Bike (Now Helios). Our e-bike completed 400 miles in 24 hours using under a dollar of electricity. We were flagged off by Prof. Dahn, head of battery research for Tesla. We were covered on Canadian and US news channels.

You are bullish about the growth of the e-bike market, which numbers and research papers do you have on hand which sustain your vision?

We typically follow research papers from different consulting/data organisations (like McKinsey and Forbes) and online news from different outlets (like Electrek) that are focused on electric vehicles in general.

How do you define sustainability? How innovative is your vision and the measurement tools you have put in place there?

Our seriousness about sustainability is what led us here to begin with. We want to transform commuting through more environmentally sustainable solutions wherever possible. Our vision is to replace a major part of automobile traffic with a more sustainable and healthier alternative. Therefore, we focused on building products that are reliable for thousands of miles and need minimal maintenance to create true automotive-grade replacements for gas vehicles. Every mile ridden on our e-bike is greener and cheaper than traditional gas transportation. Additionally, we are also one of the largest recyclers in our city and engage with the local governments to assist with the messaging, products and driving change.

Watt Wagons has been a profitable company for the past three years. Are you aiming for an IPO soon? Where do you see the company in five year time?

We believe we have some ways to go before we consider an IPO. There are certain products in our pipeline that we want to see to fruition before we decide to go public. We recognise that we are still a smaller player and want to establish ourselves as the de facto leaders in our space with a broader gamut of products before going public.

Where should our LUXUO readers go to buy a Watt Wagons e-bike? Who are your resellers? Do you also sell online?

We ship worldwide and have recently started onboarding dealers as well. LUXUO readers can buy our products online and join our other customers from 25+ countries. If interested, they can also contact us to become resellers.

For more information about Watt Wagons e-bike, click here.

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Vancea: Maxwell Vehicles Turns A Ram ProMaster Into A 250-Mile Electric Camper Van

In addition to its stellar range, the Vancea also gradually recovers some of its spent energy via roof-mounted solar panels.

from Men's Gear

The Superfast BOLD-2 Power Bank Can Charge Six Devices At Once

The BOLD-2 Power Bank packs four USB-C ports with power outputs of 140W, 100W, 30W, and 30W, and two MagSafe wireless charging ports with a 15W and 5W output.

from Men's Gear

Michael Jordan is the Proud Owner of the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster

Back in 2018, we reported that Hennessey had unveiled the world’s fastest roadster with a top speed of 301 mph. The mechanical beast was the brainchild of Shell, Pennzoil and Hennessey. Released as a replacement for the powerful Venom GT, the Hennessey Venom F5 can rake in over 1,600 horsepower and accelerate from 0 to 186 mph in less than 10 seconds. This makes it on par or even faster than some of the Formula One race cars. 

As a brand that’s constantly pushing the limits of motoring, Hennessey is no stranger in breaking barriers. Last year, it announced a new model to join its suite of hypercars. The Venom F5 Roadster is the brand’s continuation of excellence and it follows the sold-out Venom F5 Coupe that premiered in 2021. Just like its older sibling, the Roadster is almost mechanically identical but aesthetically distinct.

Most poignant would have to be the hypercar’s roofline which has been re-engineered differently from the Coupe with its removable panel crafted from sturdy carbon fibre composites. Weighing only 8kg, the lightweight panel can be installed when needed with ease.

The Roadster boasts a powerful twin-turbocharged, 6.6-litre ‘Fury’ V8 engine, which is located in the carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. It can produce an impressive 1,817 horsepower and power is transmitted to the rear wheels through a sturdy automated single-clutch gearbox. Hennessey expects the Roadster to beat its own record of the “world’s fastest convertible” that is currently held by the Venom GT Spyder.

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• READ MORE: Michael Jordan is The Highest-Paid Athlete of All Time

At the launch, it is said that only 30 units of the Roadster will be made customised to each individual owner. While the brand has not shared who bought the Roadster, it was recently revealed that Michael Jordan was delivered a unit. A photo was posted on Hennessey Performance’s Instagram showing the basketball legend standing beside CEO John Hennessey and the Roadster just in the foreground. The handover ceremony appeared to have taken place outside Jordan’s private golf club in Florida, Grove XXIII. From the single image, one can make out that the Roadster has a glossy carbon-fibre body with yellow pinstripes.

Production of the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster started late 2022 and costs US$3 million.

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“Memphis Again” Exhibition Brings Groundbreaking Pop Culture Designs to MAM Shanghai

MAM Shanghai is delighted to announce its new exhibition, “Memphis Again”, which opens on 14 May and runs until 30 July.

The exhibition will bring the colourful, post-modern designs of the renowned Memphis Group to MAM Shanghai and recreate the excitement and exuberance of their work from the mid-1980s via artwork, objects and music of the era.

The exhibition, which comes to China from Milan, Italy, contains nearly 200 of the most iconic pieces of furniture and objects created by the Memphis Group of designers, artists and architects between 1981 and 1985.

Under the leadership of Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, the Memphis Group was united by a desire to create colourful, non-conformist and abstract designs as an antidote to the bland, corporatised furniture of the era. With elements of Art Deco, Pop Art and 1950s kitsch, the designs were radical compared to the minimalist designs of the time.

Named after Bob Dylan’s track “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” which had been playing in the background during their first meeting, the Memphis Group soon attracted a popular following, with early champions including David Bowie and Karl Lagerfeld, as well as inspiring the look of television shows and product designs.

Visitors to the exhibition will find themselves immersed in the strong, visual images of the era which will make them the stars of their very own Memphis-inspired fashion show, set to the backdrop of music specially created by the American DJ Seth Troxler.

The MAM Shanghai exhibition hall itself will be transformed into a Memphis psychedelic club. Insights from critics, architects, and designers will be projected on the walls and interspersed among the works, offering viewers a special perspective on how this cultural movement marked a new era in Italian and even global design production.

Visitors will be taken back in time to that first gathering of designers in the home of Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice, playing Bob Dylan music, to the first Memphis collection in 1981 at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, to its influence on Bowie, Lagerfeld and others.

“Memphis Again” is not a tribute, nor does it attempt to deify these extraordinary works. The purpose of the exhibition is the same as when the movement was launched in 1981 — to focus on the expressive power and cultural possibility of design itself.

Memphis inherently aspires to shelve the language of design and architecture in favour of another design mission: to envision emphasising emotional, psychological, problem-aware, and disciplinary identities while addressing functional purposes. Sottsass himself wanted his designs to provoke and stimulate conversations, believing that it was more important to communicate ideas than to mass-produce objects.

“A good design is like the possibility of going to the moon,” he wrote. “Few people will have the opportunity to experience it directly, but its existence will change the lives of millions.”

Shai Baitel, artistic director of MAM Shanghai, says: “Memphis was more than just a set of radical objects — it was also designed with a spiritual philosophy in mind. The contrast that the work of Memphis presents to the staid, sleek object design of Minimalism and Modernism is marked, and has much to do with its utilisation of ornament — an aesthetic antagonist of the global hipster design style that is so prevalent today. David Bowie, a famous early client of the group, described “the jolt, the impact, created by walking into a room containing a cabinet by Memphis.”

He adds: “Memphis cabinets — flagship items of the furniture group — were indeed a shift from the soft lines, glass, and muted colours of much late Modernist 1970s design. Horizontal and diagonal shelving, built as if taken directly from an imaginative designer’s sketchbook, creates a peculiar, versatile structure of varying angles to cradle books or art objects. Contrasting the structure is the faux-terrazzo vinyl finish, bridging high — and low-brow design in an innovative, bold gesture, printed in both muted and flashy colour schemes. These objects, existing in a liminal space between art, design, and something alien, feel at once bespoke and unknowable. ’

MAM Shanghai is the largest contemporary art museum in Shanghai, measuring over 7,000 square meters. The state of the art museum located at the heart of Shanghai ’ s cultural mile along the Huangpu River is a premier institution for contemporary art with a global and multidisciplinary approach.

Memphis Again will be at MAM Shanghai between 14 May and 30 July.

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Neon from Nylon: Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon SAXEM

No watch brand has ever put more effort into delivering a yellow case than Hublot has with its Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon SAXEM. The first watch in the world to use a case in the SAXEM composite in yellow, the Big Bang Yellow Neon took three years to develop, and this is just to get the material properties right. If you know the material wizards at Hublot well, you will recall the debut of SAXEM for the brand in 2019, at that time in the Big Bang MP-11 watch, which was basically green. The obvious question is why so long? Well, to answer that question, we have to understand what SAXEM is, and then the general trend in fine watchmaking towards more colourful expressions. Basically, the watch is made of the stuff of solid-state lasers!

Hublot definitely believes in embracing the ‘fun’ in function. For this story, we are zooming in on this watch, which is Hublot’s standout. Just going on looks alone, it outshines virtually anything else — we recommend pairing this watch with an all-black ensemble for maximum effect. The colour here is a function of the precise mix of rare earth metals that combine with sapphire crystal (or aluminium oxide if you want to be a little more precise). This is just like what happens with sapphires in the wild — they get their colours from metallic impurities in the crystals. Hublot has used its research and development chops to create something nature does not. No other brand in watchmaking, Swiss or otherwise, is using this material, although we feel like the new coloured sapphire crystal cases from Louis Vuitton must have benefitted from the R&D here.

• READ MORE: Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe On the Brand Being a Trend Maker

The signature fluorescent neon yellow here is a result of tiny amounts of lutetium added to the sapphire crystal, as we learned from the product development team. For the previous emerald green SAXEM, the rare earth materials included thulium, holmium and chromium, which is not a rare earth material but not every component element is. The watch is still transparent and as scratch-resistant as any sapphire crystal, which is something Hublot does not compromise on. In terms of brilliance, always a concern for materials such as sapphire, Hublot contends that SAXEM is even more brilliant. Other than the colour, this SAXEM material is marginally weightier than regular sapphire crystal, to the tune of 10 per cent. Like all sapphire crystal cases, this one will crack and possibly shatter if you expose it to strong forces at certain angles.

Within the watch, the automatic HUB6035 calibre returns once more, with its distinctive micro-rotor and tourbillon, as you can see. New with this model is the textured rubber strap, also in neon yellow, that was developed specifically for use here. Nevertheless, the manufacture is using its One-Click interchangeable strap system so you can get other options from Hublot.

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MOVEMENT Automatic HUB6035 with tourbillon and micro-rotor; 72-hour power reserve
CASE 44m in SAXEM; water-resistant to 30m
STRAP Yellow rubber
PRICE S$296,900; Limited to 50 pieces

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